The state has reached a deal to buy more than 150 miles of abandoned rail lines for new trails, a deal that would nearly double Indiana's 170 miles of rail-trails. The governor is expected to announce the agreement at a luncheon today. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources brokered the deal, and the Indiana Department of Transportation plans to purchase the former Penn Central Rail Line properties. A price was not available this morning. The land is spread over 39 Indiana counties, including Shelby and Tipton. The deal does not include properties in Marion County.

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Managing Editor

Schouten is an Indianapolis native and Indiana University graduate who joined IBJ in 2006 after stints at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and the Arizona Republic. He covered the real estate beat for most of those years, and launched the Property Lines blog, before taking over as managing editor in March 2013.

Schouten has been honored for investigative and enterprise reporting by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, the Alliance of Area Business Publications and the Society of Professional Journalists in Indianapolis. During his tenure as moderator of Property Lines, the blog was recognized twice as the best among business journals by the AAPB.

Schouten serves as secretary of the board of governors of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, and is set to serve as the organization's president in 2016. He is treasurer of the Indianapolis Press Club Foundation, and a board member of the Indianapolis Public Schools Education Foundation.

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